When you’re assessing which model of golf ball to buy and we talked before how it’d be better if you have the one brand of golf ball in your bag you played every time. When you’re choosing that brand of golf ball it’s easy to get swayed by the promises and the claims from the manufacturers, it’s all about distance and hitting the ball as far as you can. And that sounds good you know I’d like to hit the ball 10 yards further, we all would. But there’s a trade-off here, there’s a balance here. We don’t want a golf ball that goes so far that when we get around the green we actually lose touch and feel and control and finesse. So there’s a balance between the harder longer golf balls and the softer spinier more controlled golf balls around the greens. And when you look at all the pros they’ll actually choose on the side of a softer golf ball. Quite often they’re playing on hard greens, greens with lots of surrounding bunkers and water, and spinning the ball is quite important.

Also when you get on the green you want a ball that when you touch it with the putter comes off quite soft and feels quite smooth rather than something that comes off too quickly. So don’t be swayed too much on the promise of extra distance. Have a look at getting a bit of spin and a bit of control, a bit of feel in your game. Now when you look at the tall ball that the players on the television will play with, often that’s at the top of the branding and top of the spec within any brand, so within Callaway or Bridgestone or Titleist for example, they’ll be the tall ball at the top which is probably the one that you pay the most for. Now if you can’t quite afford that, drop down a level within that brand, find the next ball down and then try and find the softer version, there might be two versions, the distance ball and the spiny ball, the softer ball. Try and look at the softer ball, see how that works for you.

Be aware that it will be slightly shorter off the tee but it should give you a better touch and feel and actually increase your ability to check and putt the ball up and down which will affect your scores better rather than just hitting it 10 yards further, knocking it 10 yards further won’t improve your score by a shot on each hole but chipping up and down will. So maybe a softer ball is worth having a look at in your bag. Just be aware that if it spins more around the green it will actually spin more on your long shots as well. So if you’re slicing and fading and hooking the golf ball too much, the side spin of that increases in your game might actually be less accurate off the tee but then more accurate around the green. So have a chat to your PJ professional or your club or ball fitter and work out whether you’re going to go for a longer harder golf ball or a softer spinier more green focused golf ball.

2012-06-07

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When you’re assessing which model of golf ball to buy and we talked before how it’d be better if you have the one brand of golf ball in your bag you played every time. When you’re choosing that brand of golf ball it’s easy to get swayed by the promises and the claims from the manufacturers, it’s all about distance and hitting the ball as far as you can. And that sounds good you know I’d like to hit the ball 10 yards further, we all would. But there’s a trade-off here, there’s a balance here. We don’t want a golf ball that goes so far that when we get around the green we actually lose touch and feel and control and finesse. So there’s a balance between the harder longer golf balls and the softer spinier more controlled golf balls around the greens. And when you look at all the pros they’ll actually choose on the side of a softer golf ball. Quite often they’re playing on hard greens, greens with lots of surrounding bunkers and water, and spinning the ball is quite important.

Also when you get on the green you want a ball that when you touch it with the putter comes off quite soft and feels quite smooth rather than something that comes off too quickly. So don’t be swayed too much on the promise of extra distance. Have a look at getting a bit of spin and a bit of control, a bit of feel in your game. Now when you look at the tall ball that the players on the television will play with, often that’s at the top of the branding and top of the spec within any brand, so within Callaway or Bridgestone or Titleist for example, they’ll be the tall ball at the top which is probably the one that you pay the most for. Now if you can’t quite afford that, drop down a level within that brand, find the next ball down and then try and find the softer version, there might be two versions, the distance ball and the spiny ball, the softer ball. Try and look at the softer ball, see how that works for you.

Be aware that it will be slightly shorter off the tee but it should give you a better touch and feel and actually increase your ability to check and putt the ball up and down which will affect your scores better rather than just hitting it 10 yards further, knocking it 10 yards further won’t improve your score by a shot on each hole but chipping up and down will. So maybe a softer ball is worth having a look at in your bag. Just be aware that if it spins more around the green it will actually spin more on your long shots as well. So if you’re slicing and fading and hooking the golf ball too much, the side spin of that increases in your game might actually be less accurate off the tee but then more accurate around the green. So have a chat to your PJ professional or your club or ball fitter and work out whether you’re going to go for a longer harder golf ball or a softer spinier more green focused golf ball.